Stand up for our health and our economy.

Patient access to new medicines in Canada is in jeopardy. The federal government is planning to drastically change how drugs are regulated in Canada. If implemented, the proposed changes will not only limit access to the latest treatments, it will also lead to a decline in investment in Canada’s vibrant life sciences sector, bringing job losses and fewer clinical trials.

There's too much at stake for us to remain silent.Help spread the word on how these changes will affect Canadians:

— Best Medicines Coalition (Consensus position of 27 Canadian patient organizations)

PMPRB changes put patient access to new medicines at risk.

Canadians are now among the first worldwide to benefit from new therapies. However, the proposed regulatory changes will slow down or limit patient access to new medicines.

Recent research from EY clearly demonstrates that market conditions matter when global companies decide where to launch new medicines. Aggressive cost containment policies in other countries like Australia and New Zealand have led to patients getting access to new medicines much later than other OECD countries or not at all. Click here for the study.

The PMPRB changes will make Canada a less attractive place to invest in high-value research – and that includes clinical trials. Clinical trials allow patients and the health system early access to new promising medicines.

PMPRB changes will harm Canada's competitiveness.

The pharmaceutical industry contributes to a strong economy by employing 13,000 Canadians directly, supporting over 30,000 jobs in total and driving over $19 billion in annual economic activity.

However, the proposed federal drug regulations will affect the pharmaceutical industry's financial capacity to continue to invest in Canada.

According to the PMPRB's own numbers, these changes would lead to price reductions of up to 70%, a cut that no industry could sustain.

If implemented, these changes will result in reduced health research investments and the loss of high-quality jobs. The reform will also have a devastating impact on the broader Canadian biosciences sector because it depends on investments from pharmaceutical companies to thrive.

Newsroom:

It seems clear - the Trudeau government wants Ottawa to become the public insurer for prescription drugs, in part to contain drug costs. In 2017, the government proposed changes to the way it limits drug prices in Canada. While lower prices may seem like a good thing, there's a catch.

The federal government’s plan to lower prescription drug prices could impede access and thus limit the benefits of life-saving drugs and discourage innovation, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

The federal government’s plan to increasingly regulate pharmaceutical costs could mean Canadians with rare diseases may lose access to new innovative drug treatments, according to a new study by the Fraser Institute.

New drugs are emerging that promise improved treatments and in some cases even cures for diseases. But these drugs are expensive, and are heightening concerns from patients and insurers (particularly public insurers) about the prices that drug companies are asking for these medications.

Health policy in Canada is not evidence-based. For proof, look no further than the new drug-price regulations being implemented by the federal government, and its ongoing consideration of a new public monopoly drug-insurance program known as Pharmacare. The cost of patented drugs is the phony excuse driving both.